Yarrow

I finally added some yarrow in my garden. This has been on my to do list for a long time and after reading about the benefits of yarrow in the garden I added two plants one on each side of my garden so if you enter from either side of the house into my backyard it will be the first thing you see! I picked these locations because yarrow is a perennial so I will have welcoming flowers and color year after year greeting me every time I enter my garden. I added one called Moonshine, which has bright yellow flowers, and another called Red Velvet with pinkish red flowers.

Yarrow is considered a nutrient catcher which means it has long roots that bring up nutrients in the soil. Once the yarrow is established in my garden, I hope to use it as a chop and drop mulch. This means I will be cutting back the plant and dropping the cuttings as mulch in my garden beds. Yarrow accumulates nutrients so as the cuttings rot the stored nutrients break back down into my soil. In addition, yarrow has beautiful flowers which attract many beneficials such as ladybugs, bees and parasitic wasps. Also yarrow is drought tolerant once established so I don’t have to worry about how much water the plants get!